Speaking on the sidelines of the 40th meeting of the special working group session on the convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea here on Monday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Pacific Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour expressed hope Caspian Sea littoral states would reach an agreement in all the remaining key issues during the next summit meeting in Kazakh city of Astana.
He said the negotiations among the Caspian Sea littoral states have continued for 20 years and been progressing forward.
“Especially during the past year and since President Rouhani took office, a number of agreements have been reached and Tehran has hosted some 10 sessions,” said Rahimpour, noting while understanding among the five littoral states has improved, there are still some sensitive issues to be settled.
He maintained that other than the convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, several MoUs on various fields have been signed.
In regard to Iran’s share of the Caspian Sea, Rahimpour said the important issue was that the principle of fairness and the rights of all littoral states were taken into account.
Putin’s special envoy for Caspian Sea Affairs Igor Bradchikov said all participating members have deemed the summit positive, adding they have managed to take some significant steps forward during the previous meeting in Baku and the current one in Tehran.
The working group session on the convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea is currently being held in Tehran with the participation of the deputy foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
The session running from May 31 to June 2 will discuss the articles of a draft of the Sea's legal regime.
The Caspian Sea Convention will determine the territorial rights of littoral states as well as other matters related to the world's largest landlocked body of water. The meetings are held periodically in the capital cities of the five littoral states. Baku, capital of Azerbaijan Republic, hosted the previous session. The 5th session is hosted by Astana, capital city of Kazakhstan.
The Caspian Sea legal regime is based on two agreements signed between Iran and the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1921 and 1940. The three new littoral states, established after the collapse of the Soviet Union, have not recognized the prior treaties, triggering a debate on the future status of the sea.